Potentiation of cannabinoid-induced cytotoxicity in Mantle Cell Lymphoma through modulation of ceramide metabolism

Posted on May 18, 2016 by David

“Ceramide accumulation is a widely described event in cancers after various treatments.

Ceramide levels are elevated in Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) cells following treatment with cannabinoids.

In previous publications we and others observed that induction of ceramide accumulation by cannabinoids leads to apoptosis in MCL, glioma and pancreatic cancer.

Here, we investigated the pathways of ceramide accumulation in the MCL cell line Rec-1 using the stable endocannabinoid analogue R(+)-methanandamide (R-MA).

Our findings suggest that R-MA induces cell death in MCL via CB1-mediated upregulation of the de novo ceramide synthesis pathway.

This is the first study showing that the cytotoxic effect of a cannabinoid can be enhanced by modulation of ceramide metabolism.

The results suggest that interference with ceramide conversion may provide a tool to enhance the targeted cell death-promoting effects of cannabinoids in MCL and other malignant lymphomas overexpressing the CB1 receptor.

Cannabinoids have been suggested as a new non-toxic therapeutic option for cancer treatment.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3077284/

Suppression of invasion and metastasis in aggressive salivary cancer cells through targeted inhibition of ID1 gene expression.

Posted on April 19, 2016 by David

“Salivary gland cancer (SGC) represents the most common malignancy in the head and neck region, and often metastasizes to the lungs. The helix-loop-helix ID1 protein has been shown to control metastatic progression in many types of cancers.

Using two different approaches to target the expression of ID1 (genetic knockdown and progesterone receptor introduction combined with progesterone treatment), we previously determined that the aggressiveness of salivary gland tumor ACCM cells in culture was suppressed. Here, using the same approaches to target ID1 expression, we investigated the ability of ACCM cells to generate lung metastatic foci in nude mice.

Moreover, since both approaches would be challenging for applications in humans, we added a third approach, i.e., treatment of mice with a non-toxic cannabinoid compound known to down-regulate ID1 gene expression.

All approaches aimed at targeting the pro-metastatic ID1 gene led to a significant reduction in the formation of lung metastatic foci.

Therefore, targeting a key transcriptional regulator using different means results in the same reduction of the metastatic spread of SGC cells in animal models, suggesting a novel approach for the treatment of patients with aggressive SGC.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27087608

“Cannabidiol as a novel inhibitor of Id-1 gene expression in aggressive breast cancer cells… CBD represents the first nontoxic exogenous agent that can significantly decrease Id-1 expression in metastatic breast cancer cells… Moreover, reducing Id-1 expression with cannabinoids could also provide a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of additional aggressive cancers because Id-1 expression was found to be up-regulated during the progression of almost all types…” http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/6/11/2921.long

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/tag/id-1/

Id-1 is a key transcriptional regulator of glioblastoma aggressiveness and a novel therapeutic target.

Posted on May 12, 2015 by David

“Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common form of primary adult brain tumors…

It is, therefore, essential to discover master regulators that control GBM invasiveness and target them therapeutically.

We demonstrate here that the transcriptional regulator Id-1 plays a critical role in modulating the invasiveness of GBM cell lines and primary GBM cells.

Furthermore, we show that a non-toxic compound, cannabidiol, significantly down-regulates Id-1 gene expression and associated glioma cell invasiveness…

Our results suggest that Id-1 regulates multiple tumor-promoting pathways in GBM, and that drugs targeting Id-1 represent a novel and promising strategy for improving the therapy and outcome of GBM patients.

We previously showed a strong correlation between Id-1 expression and the invasive and metastatic behavior of breast cancer cells.”

“Cannabidiol as a novel inhibitor of Id-1 gene expression in aggressive breast cancer cells… CBD represents the first nontoxic exogenous agent that can significantly decrease Id-1 expression in metastatic breast cancer cells… Moreover, reducing Id-1 expression with cannabinoids could also provide a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of additional aggressive cancers because Id-1 expression was found to be up-regulated during the progression of almost all types…” http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/6/11/2921.long

“In this report, we show that Id-1 is a key regulator of brain tumor cell invasiveness and neurosphere growth, and that Id-1 expression is specifically up-regulated in tissues from patients with high-grade gliomas. Importantly, we demonstrate that targeting Id-1 expression using either genetic approaches or the non-toxic cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), leads to a significant reduction in the invasion of both GBM cell lines and patient-derived primary GBM cultures. CBD also significantly inhibits GBM dispersal ex vivo, and reduces tumor growth and Id-1 expression in vivo.

Consistent with the breast cancer study, we found that the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD significantly down-regulated Id-1 expression in serum-derived and primary GBM cells. As expected, we observed robust inhibition of glioma cell invasiveness.

In conclusion, our results establish Id-1 as a key regulator of both invasion and stemness in GBM cells and demonstrate that the non-toxic cannabinoid compound CBD down-regulates Id-1 expression and tumor aggressiveness in culture and in vivo.

The data also shed light on some of the key pathways that control GBM cell dispersal and progression. A greater understanding of these pathways may lead to more effective therapies for cancer patients including the additional refinement of cannabinoid analogs targeting Id-1.

We expect our efforts to ultimately translate to the development of future clinical trials with nontoxic compounds that target the expression of Id-1, a master regulator of GBM aggressiveness.

With its lack of systemic toxicity and psychoactivity, CBD is an ideal candidate agent in this regard and may prove useful in combination with front-line agents for the treatment of patients with aggressive and high-grade GBM tumors.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3594064/

“McAllister Lab… Cannabidiol inhibits tumor (glioblastoma) progression in mouse models of brain cancer. Mice bearing human brain tumors derived from glioblastoma were treated with the naturally occurring cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD).” http://www.cpmcri-currents.org/our-people/discovery-investigators/mcallister-lab

“New Study Finds Cannabis Compound Could Have Even Greater Reach in Inhibiting Aggressive Cancer than Previously Thought. Researchers at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute (CPMCRI, a Sutter Health affiliate) have found that a compound in cannabis previously shown to decrease metastatic breast cancer now shows promise in stopping aggressive brain cancer as well. The findings are particularly important given the safety of the cannabis compound and the fact that patients with advanced brain cancer have few options for treatment.” http://www.cpmc.org/about/press/news2012/cannabis-brain.html

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/brain-cancer/

Glioblastoma progression in mouse models of brain cancer, after treatment with CBD

Reactive oxygen species-mediated therapeutic response and resistance in glioblastoma.

Posted on January 17, 2015 by David

“Glioblastoma (GBM) resistance to therapy is the most common cause of tumor recurrence, which is ultimately fatal in 90% of the patients 5 years after initial diagnosis. A sub-population of tumor cells with stem-like properties, glioma stem cells (GSCs), is specifically endowed to resist or adapt to the standard therapies, leading to therapeutic resistance.

Several anticancer agents, collectively termed redox therapeutics, act by increasing intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

In this study, we investigated mechanisms underlying GSC response and resistance to cannabidiol (CBD), a non-toxic, non-psychoactive cannabinoid and redox modulator.

…we demonstrated that combining CBD treatment with the inhibition of system Xc resulted in synergistic ROS increase leading to robust antitumor effects, that is, decreased GSC survival, self-renewal, and invasion.

Our investigation provides novel mechanistic insights into the antitumor activity of redox therapeutics and suggests that combinatorial approaches using small molecule modulators of ROS offer therapeutic benefits in GBM.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25590811

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/gllomas/

Medical Marijuana Inc Announces Positive Developments in Recent Studies Using Cannabidiol (CBD) Compound; NBC News, ABC News and Huffington Post Report California Pacific Medical Center’s Findings That CBD Stops Metastasis in Aggressive Cancers – The Wall Street Journal

Posted on May 30, 2013 by David

“Medical Marijuana Inc Announces Positive Developments in Recent Studies Using Cannabidiol (CBD) Compound; NBC News, ABC News and Huffington Post Report California Pacific Medical Center’s Findings That CBD Stops Metastasis in Aggressive Cancers

SAN DIEGO, May 28, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Medical Marijuana Inc (OTC Pink:MJNA) is pleased to inform shareholders and the general public of recent developments in the research involving Cannabidiol (CBD) and other Phyto-cannabinoids.

The Following is taken from a Huffington Post interview with Dr. McAllister and Dr. Desprez:

A pair of scientists at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco has found that a compound derived from marijuana could stop metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer, potentially altering the fatality of the disease forever.

“It took us about 20 years of research to figure this out, but we are very excited,” said Pierre Desprez, one of the scientists behind the discovery, to The Huffington Post. “We want to get started with trials as soon as possible.”

The Daily Beast first reported on the finding, which has already undergone both laboratory and animal testing, and is awaiting permission for clinical trials in humans.

Desprez, a molecular biologist, spent decades studying ID-1, the gene that causes cancer to spread. Meanwhile, fellow researcher Sean McAllister was studying the effects of Cannabidiol, or CBD, a non-toxic, non-psychoactive chemical compound found in the cannabis plant. Finally, the pair collaborated, combining CBD and cells containing high levels of ID-1 in a petri dish.

“What we found was that his Cannabidiol could essentially ‘turn off’ the ID-1,” Desprez told HuffPost. The cells stopped spreading and returned to normal.

“We likely would not have found this on our own,” he added. “That’s why collaboration is so essential to scientific discovery.”

Desprez and McAllister first published a paper about the finding in 2007. Since then, their team has found that CBD works both in the lab and in animals. And now, they’ve found even more good news.

“We started by researching breast cancer,” said Desprez. “But now we’ve found that Cannabidiol works with many kinds of aggressive cancers–brain, prostate–any kind in which these high levels of ID-1 are present.”

Desprez hopes that clinical trials will begin immediately.

“We’ve found no toxicity in the animals we’ve tested, and Cannabidiol is already used in humans for a variety of other ailments,” he said. Indeed, the compound is used to relieve anxiety and nausea, and, since it is non-psychoactive, does not cause the “high” associated with THC.

While marijuana advocates will surely praise the discovery, Desprez explained that it’s not so easy as just lighting up.

“We used injections in the animal testing and are also testing pills,” he said. “But you could never get enough Cannabidiol for it to be effective just from smoking.”

Additional Information:

Dr. McAllister & CBD Research

Dr. Sean McAllister says that he is ready to begin testing CBD on humans to evaluate anti-cancer properties. Dr. McAllister and colleague Pierre Desprez, PhD from California Pacific Medical Center have previously mentioned, “Cannabidiol offers hope of a non-toxic therapy that could treat aggressive forms of cancer without any of the painful side effects of chemotherapy.” “We found that this one compound, CBD, had a specific effect on metastatic cancer cells, very aggressive tumor cells. CBD in animal studies has been used to ‘switch off’ a specific gene regulator.” Dr. McAllister explains: “We find when you treat with CBD, you down regulate the expression of this protein and that inhibits the disease process.” Dr. McAllister and Dr. Desprez have developed a synthetic version of CBD, which they say targets a specific gene in the body related to the spread of cancer (metastasis). Article: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/health&id=9057615

Additional Cannabidiol Information

ABC News-

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/health&id=9057615

Huffington Post-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/marijuana-and-cancer_n_1898208. html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003&ir=Weird%20News

US. National Cancer Institute

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/healthprofessional/p age4

Additional Dr. McAllister Publications

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Sean%20McAllister

Additional Published Material on Cannabidiol (CBD)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gquery/?term=CANNABIDIOL”

More: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130528-906109.html

Cannabinoids for Cancer Treatment: Progress and Promise

Posted on January 21, 2013 by David

Cancer Research: 68 (2)

“Cannabinoid refers to a group of chemicals naturally found in the marijuana plant Cannabis sativa L. and includes compounds that are either structurally or pharmacologically similar to Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol or those that bind to the cannabinoid receptors. Although anticancer effects of cannabinoids were shown as early as 1975 in Lewis lung carcinoma, renewed interest was generated little after the discovery of the cannabinoid system and cloning of the specific cannabinoid receptors.

Cannabinoids are a class of pharmacologic compounds that offer potential applications as antitumor drugs, based on the ability of some members of this class to limit inflammation, cell proliferation, and cell survival. In particular, emerging evidence suggests that agonists of cannabinoid receptors expressed by tumor cells may offer a novel strategy to treat cancer. Here, we review recent work that raises interest in the development and exploration of potent, nontoxic, and nonhabit forming cannabinoids for cancer therapy.”

Full Text: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/68/2/339.long

US Investigators Praise Cannabinoids As Chemo Treatment

Posted on January 21, 2013 by David

“Cannabinoids inhibit cancer cell proliferation and should be clinically tested as chemotherapeutic agents, according to a review published in the January issue of the journal Cancer Research.

Investigators at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health reported that the administration of cannabinoids halts the spread of a wide range of cancers, including brain cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lymphoma.

Researchers suggested that cannabinoids may offer significant advantages over standard chemotherapy treatments because the compounds are both non-toxic and can uniquely target malignant cells while ignoring healthy ones.

“Cannabinoids … offer potential applications as anti-tumor drugs, based on the ability of some members of this class to limit inflammation, cell proliferation, and cell survival,” authors concluded. “[T]here is overwhelming evidence to suggest that cannabinoids can be explored as chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer.””

Marijuana compound could help fight breast cancer – ABC News

Posted on October 20, 2012 by David

“There may be a new weapon in the fight against aggressive forms of breast cancer in the future, and it comes from an unlikely source: Marijuana. Researchers at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco believe a compound in marijuana may help.

The research funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Program builds on more than a decade of studies involving the genes responsible for the spread of cancer. Now scientists have found at the cellular level, a compound in cannabis inhibits the gene that controls the spread of cancer.

“The problem is not the cancer itself, the problem is the spread of the cancer,” said cancer researcher Yvez Desprez, Ph.D.

Cancer researcher Pierre Desprez points to the gene ID-1 as the trigger.

“When this type of gene is expressed, the cells basically go crazy and they’re very aggressive and they metastasize everywhere in the body,” said Desprez.

“We could expect that if we create really effective inhibitors against it, we could potentially treat many types of aggressive cancers,” said cancer researcher Sean McAllister, Ph.D.

Their research in breast cancer cell lines focused on using a non-toxic compound in cannabis to target the ID-1 gene.

“What we found was cannabidiol is a particularly good inhibitor of this gene that’s responsible for the ability of cancer cells to become very aggressive,” said McAllister.”

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/health&id=5771385